Lately, I’ve been thinking about how I can take on the small task of “saving the world” through social entrepreneurship and advocacy.

But why “save” or “change” the world? Is it broken? Does it need fixing? Or does it just need a nip and a tuck – here and there?

One thing I know – through reading this morning’s tweets, comments, posts and news – this world…my world…OUR world…needs changing. But what a humongous undertaking… seriously. How can we change an entire world filled with so much cultural, political, economic and environmental diversity? Diversity that is supposed to be beautiful, yet linked to competition, fear and annomosity.

The answer is…wait for it….one person at a time. And that one person is… me… and that other person is…you (the person reading this text right now).

So let’s ask ourselves an important question. How have I/we been treated by others lately? How did it feel?

Ok, now how have I treated others lately?

Have I thrown people into a categorical box of labels? Black, white, liberal, conservative, communist, capitalist, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim and so forth? At the end of the day, if a massive asteroid hit Earth or an international pandemic attacked OUR world would any of these labels even matter?

Before we look for a cure for Our World, let’s check ourselves. Let’s be responsible and act right…do right…treat each other right. Seriously, I’m so done with all the divisiveness driven by fear, material greed and power. Individually and collectively we as the human race can make monumental changes in and to OUR world.

Let’s treat the little time we have living in OUR world like it’s our most precious, valuable resource. It’s time to make everyday special. Let’s be kind to ourselves and everyone we share OUR World with.

On Friday, June 9th, World Rhythm Academy threw a launch party at 3 Black Cats Cafe in Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY. It was well attended by our musician friends who brought their instruments and jammed with us. The goal was to let the community know that we are here and eager to provide opportunities to enjoy great live music and soulful experiences.

We also set out to raise funds for the GeoArts Summer Program that begins soon. Check out the photos from our party.

Last week at Penn State University, numerous black student groups came together to organize a week of “die in” peaceful protests to make a statement about the Michael Brown non-indictment decision and later the Eric Garner non-indictment decision. The first day of protests took place in the HUB-Robeson center. The passionate students dropped down in the middle of the bustling student center and lied there for forty-five minutes to symbolize the 4.5 minutes that Mike Brown bleed dead in the Ferguson street.

This silent exercise infuriated many of the Penn State Students and led to appalling tweets as these:

After a week of tears, anger resulting in emotional exhaustion, my pastor gathered a few of us together, including several Police Chiefs in the area to discuss the racist responses to the protesters and the perceived community ‘silence’ and apathy towards the #blacklivesmatter movement in State College.

One Penn State professor mentioned that she hears from her students that a lot of this contentious behavior is stemming from Yik Yak.

I was like, “what in the world is Yik Yak?”.

She explained that it is a social media tool that allows users to remain anonymous as they can vote positively or negatively on their friends comments. From media reports, the Yik Yak app is spreading like wildfire across college campuses and is quickly gaining investors.

Here at Penn State, the issue I find with Yik Yak, sadly, is that the negative, racist statements against the “die in” protests have been winning by a landslide. I will not resort to completely knocking Yik Yak as I have never used the app and still know very little about it. However, I do take serious issue with any tool that allows people to say hateful things against their fellow sisters and brothers of the human race while they “lie” in secret like big cowards and trolls who consistently hide behind their fake social media account names spewing venomous comments on posts they do not agree with.

Dear negative, malicious secret social media users, if you can’t say it to my face then you are representing a lily-livered, spineless, chicken-hearted and pusillanimous behavior.

Thesauruses are AWESOME!

Let’s walk in love, peace and unity – in our classrooms, on our jobs, in our churches and on social media.